Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 8A
'Reporter
Around Monroe County
December 12, 2012
Members of the 2012 Leadership Class of Monroe County talk about their work to organize and preserve items at the Mon
roe County Historical Society at an open house in the Conley Building. Pictured clockwise from front left are Jody White,
Jessica Savage, Megan Randall, Adam Ham, Megan Moore, and Alicia Elder.
Monroe Leadership class makes
history with museum project
BY DIANE GLIDEWELL
Each year the Monroe Leadership
class chooses a community service
project it hopes will have a lasting
impact on people in Monroe County.
Many classes plan a one-day special
event, but the 18 members of the
2012 Leadership class took on a
project of 'historical' proportion, one
that required the committed effort of
each member for several days each
month from February until
November. The class took on the
task of sorting, labeling, and dis
playing or storing the multi
tude of items that have been
donated to the Monroe County
Historical Society over the
years. On Nov. 15 the
Leadership class hosted an
open house to invite the com
munity to see the work they
have done and the wealth of
resources available to anyone
interested in Monroe County's
history.
Although dedicated volun
teers had created exhibitions
about Monroe County's history
and had cataloged many valu
able documents, there were
boxes of donated items stacked
in the Historical Society build
ings that needed to be sorted.
One team from the 2012
Leadership class, led by Dr.
Dana Peterman, worked to pre
serve documents, placing them
in acid-free folders and filing them
systematically. Many items were
cataloged and put in storage; they
can be retrieved to rotate historic
displays or located for someone who
has a special interest in them.
2012 Leadership class member Jeff
Thompson suggested the project,
and the class adopted it after nar
rowing down suggestions from about
20 ideas to three.
"I brought my children in here ear
lier in the year, and it looked like
they could use some help," said
Thompson. "We were all talking
about a long-term goal, and we
could literally affect generations of
Monroe Countians [with this proj
ect]. It is amazing, the message in
these buildings."
The Monroe County Historical
Society's T.G. Conley Building held
many boxes of items donated by
Conley's family. Conley was an early
dentist in Monroe County, at a time
when dentists attended to much of
the health care in the community in
addition to dental care. Some of his
medical instruments and other pos
sessions are now displayed in glass
cases in the Conley Building.
Peterson said one interesting discov
ery they made in unpacking boxes
was a box of teeth.
The efforts of the Leadership class
cleared the Conley Building so that
it can now be used for meetings and
possibly small events.
"What a beautiful building!" said
Peterman.
Leadership class member Adam
Ham said the 'nuts and bolts' of
what the class did was filing and
cataloging documents so that they
are now available for research. Ham
and other class members worked
with Ralph Bass of the Historical
Society to group books and papers
by topic. Ham hopes the documents
can be organized so that they can be
accessed by Internet.
Bass said the work done to make
records available, such as for
genealogical research, was substan
tial. He said Ham assigned Dewey
Decimal numbers to the archives so
that now they can be immediately
located. Bass said they are continu
ing to put protective sleeves around
as many photographs as possible.
Some interesting items included a
Probate Court docket from the
1920's and a football program from
Coach Dan Pitts' early years. There
is a Voters Book from 1914-1920
that shows eligibility to vote by
virtue of being a descendant of a sol
dier, being of good character, having
wealth, etc. Black men are listed
among the voters, but no women are
listed since they were not allowed to
vote regardless of status.
Ham said his grandmother had
thought a lot of preserving history,
and her influence made him espe
cially glad to be a part of the project.
He has a special interest in preserv
ing the long history of Mary Persons
High School.
"There is a lot of work still to be
done," said Ham. "We pledged
to come back and continue."
One way that the 2012
Leadership class has contin
ued support of the Monroe
County Historical Society even
past its project work is by
each member joining the
Historical Society to boost the
membership. The membership
fee is only $10 per year. The
Society meets for interesting
programs on the first Monday
of each month at 7 p.m. in the
Conley Building, except July,
August, and September.
A contingent of 8-10 volun
teers keeps the Stone Depot,
next to the Conley Building,
open to the public from 9 a.m.-
4 p.m. each Wednesday,
Thursday, and Friday. Wynella
Martin is one of those faithful
volunteers. She has been a
part of the Monroe County
Historical Society since its inception
in about 1974 and eagerly shares of
knowledge of Monroe County and
explains the exhibits about the rail
road depot, writer Joel Chandler
Harris, early inhabitants of the
area, and women's roles in Monroe
County, for example.
"We hope to plant a seed for an on
going project," said Thompson.
"We want to generate traffic and
interest," said Ham. "We want to let
it be known it's here."
The members of the 2012
Leadership class of Monroe County
are Sarah Alford, Sam Baggarly,
Travis Blackwell, Alicia Elder, Adam
Ham, John Howard, Jim Jackson,
Megan Moore, Dana Peterman,
Megan Randall, Jessica Savage,
Brandon Shepard, Robert Smith,
Craig Stephens, Jeff Thompson,
Thomas White, Jody White, and
Kevin Yancey.
Jeff Thompson of the 2012 Monroe County Leader
ship class, left, talks with Ralph Bass of the Monroe
County Historical Society at the Conley Building.
Food bank needs help unloading, sorting food Dec. 12
The monthly food bank
distribution will be at
Christ United Methodist
Church on Wednesday,
Dec. 12, from 10 a.m.-1:30
p.m. The food bank distri
bution is sponsored by the
Circle of Care. About 150
families are provided with
a large box of dry goods
and additional various
fresh foods. The food
needs to be unloaded from
the truck, separated,
bagged, and carried out to
cars as needed. If you
would like to help out with
this worthy cause, call
CUMC at (478)-994-1232,
or the Circle of Care, or
just show up. Christ UMC
is located at 417 North
Frontage Road in Forsyth
next to the Farm Bureau.
A dozen reasons
that her favorite
number is ‘12’
A 12th birthday is
always special-that last
step before the teen
years- but the day will be
of unique significance for
Hailey Watson of Smarr
as she turns 12 on the
12th day of December,
2012 (12/12/12).
There are theories that
numbers
have an
impact
on des
tiny;
there are
even cur
rent tele
vision
shows
built
around
how
numbers
tie
together
the uni
verse.
Being
aligned
with ‘12’
has to be
a good omen for Hailey.
After all, a dozen is an
important unit of meas
ure, there are 12 inches
in a foot, there were 12
tribes of Israel, Jesus
chose 12 disciples, and
“12 Days of Christmas”
is a carol of lasting popu
larity and endless paro
dies.
Hailey is a 6th grade
student at Monroe
County Middle School.
She is the daughter of
Jay and Stephanie
Watson and the grand
daughter of Randy and
Kathy Bolden and Buster
and Ann Watson, all of
Monroe County. She will
celebrate her birthday
with a bonfire with family
and friends and a special
big surprise.
We wish her dozens and
dozens of happy birthdays
in the years to come.
Hailey’s mother wrote:
You may think it’s a lit
tle silly for an 11-year-old,
to have a
favorite
number,
especially
one that
does not
correspond
to a favorite
ball player.
Hailey
Watson has
felt a tight
connection
to ‘12’her
entire life.
The story
goes back
about 12
years. On
Tuesday,
Dec. 12,
2000 Hailey
Elizabeth graced us with
her presence at 2:41 p.m.
Sometime within that
week we recognized that
having been born in 2000
it would be quite easy to
remember her age,
because each year would
correspond with it. In
2001 she would be 1, in
2002 she would be 2, and
so on. It took very little
time to recognize that
since she was born on the
12th day of the 12th
month, that on 12/12/12
she would turn 12. She
has eagerly anticipated
this day for years, and we
want to wish her a very
Happy Birthday! (12
times)
Hailey Watson
It’s coming up
12s for Latoya
Latoya Myrick is
having a special birth
day as she turns 12 on
Wednesday, Dec. 12,
2012 (12/12/12). Her
mother said Latoya
has not thought much
about the multiple
12’s but does enjoy
having a birthday in
December because her
grandmother, uncle,
and aunt also have
December birthdays.
Latoya attends
Appling Middle
School in Bibb
County. She is the
daughter of Minnie
Goolsby Myrick and
Willis Myrick of
Forsyth. She is the
granddaughter of
Bettye Myrick of
Forsyth and the late Lester Myrick and of Willie Mae
Goolsby of Gray and the late John W. Goolsby. Her
brother, Emmanuel Myrick is serving in the U.S.
Army, and she has one older sister, Lakesha Myrick.
Latoya’s mother said she will be taking her out to do
“whatever she wants to do” for her 12/12/12 birthday.
Latoya Renee Myrick
Dec. 12,2000
Daughter of
Minnie Goolsby &
Willis Myrick
Preparing for Christmas
Forsyth United Methodist
Church held it's annual
Chrismon Service on Dec. 9.
The United Methodist
Women explained the
meaning of the Nativity,
Passion and Victory sym
bols. Members of the confir
mation class presented and
hung the ornaments. Pic
tured is Hatcher Davis
preparing to hang an orna
ment on the Chrismon tree.